Chapter 71

Chapter 071: Pay Respect to the Local Boss Before Doing Business

As the Fate Net prompt appeared, the moment Good Fortune Coins resumed exchange, hundreds of millions of users flooded into the Withdrawal Interface. Countless people clicked the Exchange Button simultaneously, and a torrent of exchange requests instantly transformed into a fierce drain on the Energy Pool.

At that moment, Yan Cang also sank his consciousness into the Mirror World to observe the energy storm he had triggered. There, the Crimson Sun at the center of the Fate Star Sea, like a punctured balloon, visibly shrank in size within just a few seconds, losing nearly a tenth of its energy in an instant.

"This consumption rate..." Yan Cang clicked his tongue in surprise. "It's way fiercer than the wave before the suspension this afternoon! Sure enough, everyone got spooked by the halt, and now they're scrambling to exchange first thing. They're probably grabbing as much as they can, hoarding it up."

He muttered to himself, but there was no panic on his face. In fact, he was secretly pleased. "Good thing I didn't act foolishly and force a launch at ten o'clock..." He was very confident. "Now it's rock solid!"

Because before preparing to relaunch the Good Fortune Coins, he had already done a quick mental calculation. The logic was simple: he compared the total reserves of the existing Energy Pool with the total Fate Points on the current Fate Net users' accounts. Roughly estimating... the new energy added from user top-ups over these few hours was nearly enough to cover all the Fate Points that might be used to exchange for Good Fortune Coins.

This might sound a bit exaggerated? In just half a day, user top-ups could cover that much Good Fortune Coin consumption? But in fact, it was true. After all, each Good Fortune Coin only consumed energy equivalent to about one-tenth of its selling price in Fate Points. And during the suspension of Good Fortune Coin sales, users' enthusiasm for top-ups had actually increased rather than decreased, with a significantly higher increment—several times more than before.

This was the most direct feedback from the launch of the Good Fortune Coin system and the enhanced value of Fate Points. Clearly, compared to busying themselves with other things, everyone now preferred converting their physical strength into Fate Points. With one side rising and the other falling, there was naturally no big problem.

Still, this rough estimate would inevitably have some errors, but there was no need to calculate it so meticulously. Some people would always keep a portion of Fate Points in reserve for other expenses. So, there was no need to worry about the Energy Pool at all.

"It's just that this first wave after the relaunch is really intense... like a snatch." Muttering, Yan Cang turned his gaze to the Fate Net Forum. He found that almost all the Latest Posts were from people happily sharing that they had exchanged for Good Fortune Coins. The joy of grabbing a limited item was natural. But as more and more people successfully exchanged without any obstacles or quantity limits... everyone quickly realized that the officially launched Good Fortune Coins were truly unlimited. So, the tone soon shifted, and some regretful voices began to emerge: "Good Fortune Coins, really unlimited!"

"I'm such a fucking idiot! Last night on the Forum, someone said it would probably still be limited, so I bought it at a high price on the Trading House."

"Same here. I spent 340 Fate Points on two Auspicious Fortune Coins, and I thought it was a good deal at the time."

"Yours isn't that bad. I bought an Auspicious Fortune Coin for over 200 Fate Points. Huge loss!"

"I'm even worse off. I just bought it on the Trading House, and the next second I got a notification that the Good Fortune Coin exchange function was restored!"

"What's going on? It was already announced that it would officially launch today, and there are still so many people buying Good Fortune Coins at high prices? What were you thinking?"

"Do you even need to ask?! They must have believed those posts saying it would be limited, and got greedy themselves!"

"Greedy? Thinking that if it was limited today, buying high on the Trading House could still make a profit, huh? Haha!"

"Damn! Where are those bastards spreading the limited-edition rumors? Come out and take your beating!"

"Should've trusted the Chief's strength! Serves you right!"

"I didn't read those posts. I just saw the Good Fortune Coins on the Trading House had dropped enough in price, thought it was much cheaper than before, and bought some."

"Same here. I thought it was cheap and bought a bit, but then... Still, the timing of the price drop was right before the official launch. Isn't that suspicious?"

"Exactly. The notification said it would launch tomorrow, and most people expected it to be at the chest-opening time tomorrow. The price drop at that point really doesn't add up!"

"And not just that. Scroll back a few hours, and the Forum was flooded with posts insisting that Good Fortune Coins would still be limited. All neatly lined up!"

"This... feels like a malicious harvest. I want to report it! I want to report it to the Chief!"

"Chief, I have a grievance!"

...

"Not my fault."

Yan Cang let out a slightly guilty whistle.

Even though, in all this, there were definitely some people caught in the crossfire when he harvested the merchants.

But he couldn't exactly reply with, "Who dares to accuse this official before the court?" could he?

"Still..."

He thought it over and straightened up with confidence. "Even if I didn't make this money, someone else would have."

"And it's better it goes into my pocket than straight to those bastards spreading the rumors, right?"

"Wouldn't that be an even bigger loss and more infuriating?"

With that thought, Yan Cang even felt a little proud.

He almost thought he deserved some merit for this.

But the young man wasn't that thick-skinned after all. He thought, "Forget it, forget it. No need for merit."

Skipping past those posts.

He could see that on the Forum's front page, many people were already praising the Chief's strength.

[Chief is awesome! Said it would launch officially, and it did, right at midnight on the dot, not a second late!]

[Good Fortune Coins can be exchanged freely, as many as you want! Those who said it would be limited, does your face hurt?]

[No need to say more about the Chief's strength!]

...

"Heh, if it weren't for my overspending and using up all my energy to refine the [Fate Wheel Mirror] and the [Fortune-Bearing Golden Mother], there wouldn't have been any limited supply at all!"

Feeling pleased, he couldn't help but shake his right hand, and the Golden Mother bracelet on his wrist shimmered with golden light.

Although this round of halting sales had a few hiccups along the way...

But the result was still quite good: "At least the value of Good Fortune Coins has been established, and it gives people the impression of getting more than their money's worth."

"Actually, I can make a huge profit, hehe!"

With that thought, Yan Cang withdrew his consciousness from the Fate Net Forum.

He then summoned the [Fate Wheel Mirror].

Tapping the main interface on the mirror's surface, he observed the real-time status of the Crimson Sun at its center.

He even subtly moved his mind to secretly replay the footage.

It displayed the changes in volume over the past few minutes.

It showed that after the initial brief surge, the consumption rate of the Energy Pool suddenly slowed down.

Of course, this slowdown was only relative.

"If it keeps up at this rate, the Energy Pool will be drained in less than half an hour..."

This thought flashed through Yan Cang's mind, but he remained calm inside.

Because he knew this situation could never last.

Sure enough, just as he expected.

As time passed, the consumption rate began to visibly decrease with every passing minute and second.

By this time, more and more people had completed their exchanges.

When the area of the Energy Pool had shrunk to about only a quarter of its original size, the energy mass finally stopped shrinking.

Then...

It began to turn around and slowly rise again.

"Done!" Yan Cang's spirits lifted.

This rise, however, wasn't entirely due to the energy inflow from user top-ups.

It was more because some people, realizing that Good Fortune Coins were unlimited, had exchanged them back into Fate Points.

This portion of recycled Good Fortune Coins naturally vanished directly within the users' personal spaces.

The [Good Fortune] power they carried turned into golden streams of light and returned to the Energy Pool.

Thus, at the center of the starry sky on the mirror,

within the much-shrunken energy mass, many flowing golden glows could be seen.

The interweaving of red and gold gave this sun an added touch of mystery and splendor.

The number of Fate Points exchanged back wasn't large, only accounting for a very small portion of the Good Fortune Coins just exchanged.

Most people had been eager to exchange for Good Fortune Coins earlier and probably had no intention of refunding them.

After all, they would be needed for opening chests at noon.

So basically, the profits from that massive amount of Good Fortune Coins were already securely pocketed.

A huge windfall!

As for exactly how much he had earned, even without a detailed calculation, he knew the number was enormous.

At least a terrifying profit starting from tens of billions of Fate Points!

And this was only the first wave of exchanges. Although it had been somewhat overdrawn due to hunger marketing,

because of the Supply Boxes, a stable amount of Good Fortune Coins would be used every day from now on.

This also meant a continuous stream of profits.

Thinking of this, the extra over ten million earned from the Good Fortune Coin premium suddenly seemed trivial.

Yan Cang immediately felt that his earlier excitement was unnecessary.

"Time to sleep, time to sleep!"

...

On the other side.

The [Trade Alliance] group chat channel.

The moment the Fate Net notification appeared, it fell into a dozen seconds of silence.

Then a tentative question emerged:

"The Good Fortune Coin exchange function is back. Has anyone tried exchanging? Did it work?"

"I exchanged, it went smoothly."

"I got some too. It seems to be unlimited."

"..."

A simple exchange of questions and answers, yet it sent everyone's heart sinking to the depths.

As more and more people confirmed successful exchanges and the exchange channel remained open, a suffocating atmosphere began to spread through the group.

A quarter of an hour later, the Good Fortune Coin exchange function was still operating normally, with no sign of selling out.

By this point, anyone with half a brain understood: all users who wanted Good Fortune Coins had basically already gotten their hands on them.

It was almost as if they could just exchange freely!

The stockpiles they had hoarded at inflated premiums instantly became assets destined for loss.

"It's over..." someone typed two words in the group, followed by a string of ellipses, capturing everyone's mood at that moment.

"I'm screwed now. I've got over a thousand Auspicious Fortune coins sitting here, costing nearly 200,000 Fate Points..."

"I've probably got more than you—fifteen hundred."

"Twelve thousand Common Fortune coins. I thought buying low was snatching a bargain, but now it looks like I'm just taking over the bag."

Someone seemed unwilling to face reality: "Wait a bit longer. What if the sale resumes later?"

"Resume my ass! It's been a quarter of an hour, the exchange function is still working fine, and everyone who wanted to exchange has already done so!"

Someone immediately retorted, their tone laced with irritation: "What's the point of stopping sales now? To mess with you?!"

That hit the nail on the head, jolting many still dreaming back to reality.

"The dust has settled. This round is a guaranteed loss!"

"Ah well, I can only recycle at the original price."

"Fellas, is there really no way to salvage this?" someone asked, still unwilling to give up.

"There is," a voice replied with sarcasm. "If the exchange function shuts down permanently from now on, the existing Good Fortune Coins will naturally become scarce again, and the price could skyrocket!"

"So... is that possible?" the questioner clung to a sliver of hope.

"Are you freaking stupid?!"

The other person lashed out with a curse. "I just said it offhand, and you actually believe it? How did you even get into this group? Got a brain or not?"

"You're insane! Why are you suddenly cursing at me!"

"What's it to you if I curse? The existence of Good Fortune Coins makes the Fate Points you hold—or will earn in the future—more valuable. Isn't that obvious?"

"So even if there's a one-in-a-million chance, you should pray it doesn't happen, not hope it does, you idiot!"

"Alright, stop arguing."

A relatively calm merchant in the group tried to console everyone, and himself: "Unlimited Good Fortune Coins benefit everyone. That's the big picture."

"At worst, we lose the Fate Points we spent on the premium to buy the coins, but the value of Fate Points has risen. In terms of purchasing power, we haven't lost—we've even gained quite a bit!"

That made sense.

Without Good Fortune Coins, Fate Points might keep depreciating.

They might seem to earn a lot of Fate Points, but their purchasing power would keep shrinking.

With Good Fortune Coins as an anchor, the value of Fate Points increases, benefiting everyone's overall wealth.

But even understanding that, it was impossible for them to feel no resentment.

After all, they didn't have to take a loss in the first place.

"This business deal was really well executed," someone said with a sarcastic tone.

"It's truly beautiful—beautifully lost."

"Exactly, I thought following the richest man would guarantee profits."

"The organizer misjudged, causing everyone to lose so much."

"Mr. Zhang, you've really screwed us over this time."

The finger-pointing began to target the group owner, Zhang Yunteng.

Although this loss was likely due to a Dimensional Reduction Strike, an act of force majeure.

But such is human nature—when money is lost, people need an outlet for their resentment.

And as the organizer of this investment, he was the most convenient scapegoat.

Who told you to lead everyone into a dead end?

Faced with the increasingly sharp accusations.

The former richest man in China remained silent in the group.

Seeing his silence, someone became even more disrespectful:

"Doing business without paying respect to the local boss—isn't losing money just asking for it?"

"We joined this group all because of your face, Mr. Richest Man!"

"Never thought you couldn't even protect us."

These words were merciless, almost a direct slap in the face.

But Zhang Yunteng still didn't respond.

True, even if he was the former richest man in the country, with connections reaching the heavens, a business titan on Earth whom most of them couldn't even speak a word to.

But in the Trial Ground, what did that amount to?

Now even the official organizations struggled to maintain their authority, let alone a former richest man.

Realizing this, the group fell silent for a moment.

Then, the first notification of someone leaving the group popped up.

[Group Notification: User "Wang Fugui" has left the group chat]

Followed by the second, the third...

"Boring, I'm out."

"Everyone, farewell."

"Let me spit before I go—bad luck!"

"Richest man, huh!"

The departure notifications cascaded like dominoes, and the group's member count instantly dropped by more than half.

Many even left behind sarcastic remarks before leaving.

Some might not have been driven by resentment, but rather by the pleasure of dragging a once-unreachable figure off their pedestal and mocking them freely.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; when the wall crumbles, everyone pushes.

Lying in his crude but safe wooden hut,

Zhang Yunteng calmly watched the activity on the group chat interface, his expression betraying little emotion.

He could naturally guess what was on the minds of those leaving.

Simply put, they felt his dock wasn't stable or strong enough, completely unreliable under the new order of the Trial Ground.

So they wanted to find a bigger dock, perhaps even foolishly dreaming of directly latching onto the largest one.

To this, Zhang Yunteng felt little scorn.

Instead, he had some understanding, even sharing the same extravagant hope himself.

Just like the remark in the group earlier—doing business means first paying respect to the local boss.

Having become the richest man on Earth, he naturally understood this principle.

And after all, who wouldn't want to rely on the one revered as the Master of the Fate Net?

Even if this disastrous investment was most likely directly caused by that very figure.

But if there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of becoming a Dragon-following Minister, then he, Zhang Yunteng, would charge to the front without hesitation.

But was it possible?

"Anything is possible..." he murmured to himself, gazing into the thick, impenetrable darkness of the wooden cabin, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

Then his thoughts turned to those who had just left.

"If any of you could manage to latch onto that biggest dock..." Zhang Yunteng let out a self-deprecating chuckle, muttering in a voice only he could hear:

"Once you do... don't forget to give me a hand."

If he hadn't known it would backfire, he would have said that in the group chat earlier.

Of course, the main reason was that he believed those who had left had even less hope.

He refocused his attention on the Group Chat Channel.

The group's member count had stabilized—over half had left, leaving only a small fraction behind.

He scanned the list and understood in his heart.

Those still here were mostly old acquaintances he had crossed paths with before.

Having navigated the business world for decades, he knew well that there were no true friendships in commerce.

These people stayed not out of nostalgia, but because they judged that Zhang Yunteng himself had value.

And in truth, that was indeed the case.

Having once risen to the position of the richest man, he naturally had ties with quite a few people in the official sphere.

After arriving in the Trial Ground, he had also put in enough effort to maintain those connections.

As a result, he was rewarded with knowledge of the special confidential department the authorities had set up for the Chief.

Though he didn't know the specifics, this already put him ahead of most people.

That was also why he believed those who left had even less hope.

But those who stayed...

"All clever people." Zhang Yunteng stared at the remaining names in the group, his gaze growing profound.

He pondered: "Anyway, they don't know much. Why not just spill it out, bind the Trade Alliance into one rope, integrate our value..."

"Who knows, maybe one day I'll catch that person's eye!"